TFP: Undercurrent
by Darst
Summary: Shockwave remembers how it all began. Story about hardship, cruelty, loyalty and faith it takes to reverse the planet's spin. Warning: slightly AU, fem!Soundwave. Slavery on Cybertron, SW/SW
1. Chapter 1

In the end it all boiled down to one moment. Shockwave knew that now. It wasn't logical, but it was logical that it wasn't.  
Set in his berth, the big mech lingered before shutting down for recharge as he called up the files of that faithful sycle.

Crowd's cheer was deafening, as he recalled. The slender winged frame at his side shifted ever so slightly, disturbed by the volume of this roar. Soundwave always disliked noise. Both mechs were standing just outside the arena circle, in a shadow of a balcony, housing important guests.  
Gladiators weren't really allowed to come here until they were due to fight, but tonight was a free-for-all challenge night so no one really protested as their duo picked themselves the best place in shadows.

Soundwave seemed completely enthralled by the fight, while Shockwave preferred to study his partner instead. Being an arena slave technic, there weren't many tools that he was allowed to, but he used whatever he had and all the spare time he managed to steal without rising suspicion to upgrade the meager weaponry they posessed.

It was only logical to do whatever it took to raise his survival chances and pairing himself with a pointy air-born mech was his best decision sofar.  
They haven't lost a single fight after they had become partners, which bought them some albeit limited respect and loosened their leashes a little.

Yet it was taking its tall on his slender friend. The arena bosses raised the stakes a while back, announcing fights for spark and while he himself found it very logical to snuff someone else's spark to keep his own, Soundwave hardly had the guts to do it. Last time he had to steal the kill from under his partner's blade before anyone could notice that the violet hands were shaking with doubt and indecision, and not rage.

Shockwave's line of thought was interrupted by a small agitated chirp and the larger mech turned to watch the fight too. The latest arena aquisition, Megatron, cleary had no problem with snuffing anyone. Shockwave disliked the newb, though he had to give him credit - the guy was well-trained and fought with all his spark. It was just a matter of seconds before his opponent would be offline for good and everyone on the arena new it. Including the poor victim.

/_/I can take him on_/ Soundwave transmitted.  
/_It will get us nothing. The stakes are low today and he is rather tough. Not logical._/

/_I want to_/ Soundwave's transition carried over unusual persistency and something dark lying under it.

This was the moment, Shockwave new, when he had made a mistake. He believed that darkness was bloodlust.

/_/If you insist_/ he made sure his reluctance was backed up with a generous amount of determination.

Soundwave stepped in front of him and turned to face him. Their heads were on the same level, yet the flyer looked like a joke compared to the technic's bulky frame. A frail long-fingered hand that stopped Shockwave forward movement, however, possessed power that nearly equaled his own.

/_Solo. I'm doing this solo_/

The crowd cheered even louder - which, logics suggested, meant that Megatron's opponent was down, and Soundwave marched over to the place the steely gladiator stood before anyone else could volunteer to be his next match.

Shockwave remembered his vague joy from the thought that his mate finally made up his mind. When Soundwave was dedicated, there were no chances for others.

The arena was cleaned of the remnants of the last fallen, and the technic was called in to dissect the remnants and utilize whatever spare parts could be saved.

Reluctantly, he left the arena just as a siren sounded, manifesting the new fight begin. He walked back to his workshop, thinking of how his mate would relay the details of this fight in that soft humming voice of her that she saved for the rare moments when they were truly alone.

Turning yet another corner, he trailed along a route he knew too well while his processor called up images of Soundwave's ivory face, freed from her visored helmet, hovering over his, while her fingers slid aside small armor plates and covers that protected his spark and she did it so deliberately slow. And he let her remove them one by one, though he could open them himself in an instant, which would be far more logical, but would lack this wonderful tremor of anticipation...

Startled, Shockwave focused his sole optic on the remnants of a mech that were ungraciously dumped onto his dissection table. Thinking about their secret now was most illogical. His hands traced the distorted chassis, but froze over the dissected spark chamber still leaking energon, when he suddenly realised the cause of those untimely thoughts.

Not bloodlust. Lust.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Shockwave didn't remember how he finished stripping the corpse of valuables - his protocols were operating in auto mode, his core processor busy calculating the outcome of percieved change in his mate's affections. Should he say something? Should he pretend he didn't notice?

Shockwave liked to come prepared for every possible scenario of their inevitable discussion, so he played these scenarios through his mind, preparing compelling logical arguements for everything that Soundwave might have brought his way.

The door slid aside and he turned to greet...He wasn't prepared to face Megatron, carrying torn, leaking frame of his mate. Energon drops stained the floor generously. She was still online, though her spark was unsteady and trembling.

"Soundwave!" - he called both aloud and on comm frequency, but static was all he got in responce - her vizor was broken in, face smashed, neck cabling torn and seeping liquids.

Shockwave surpressed an illogical urge to swear or slag the bastard immediately. "any more damage?" he asked emotionless, focusing his optic on the torn body.  
Megatron kicked the remnants of his previous opponent off the table and lowered shuddering gladiator onto the surface.  
A commotion started somewhere in the corridor, loud voices and electric blasts that were all too familiar for any arena slave.  
"Fix him!" Megatron rumbled and went toward bad news.

Shockwave didn't need that words being spoken, as he was already all over the place trying to stabilize the vitals and scrap out the best of his supplies so that the violet flyer wouldn't be scrap herself.

Never had he worked with such agility, knitting cables and tubes together before the fluids loss got critical. Shockwave reserved all his capacities for repair and shut off the surroundings completely. Had it been anyone but his partner, he'd suggest snuffing his spark out of mercy.

Soundwave's voice box was damaged, and the face beyond repair - he patched it up as good as he could but it would hardly ever be able to articulate or show much expression. The neck was in far worse a state and then ther was a long leaking gash in her chest plate...

At some point the corridor went silent but he didn't really register when.

Only next cycle, Soundwave still in stasis and Megatron mysteriously disappeared, he finally laid his hands on that fight's footage.

First, the two were circling each other warily. Megatron dived toward his opponent several times, but those attacks were testing and Soundwave didn't bother to engage, choosing to sidestep him instead. Then his mate counter attacked.

For someone his size and mass, Megatron was surprisingly quick in changing direction of his movements.  
However, not quick enough to completely avoid Soundwave's blade slashes and wing blows. But the guy was resillient. He took four blows in a row and backed down as much as one step.

Then they clashed again.

This fight was a sight to withhold: every next attack they launched looked a fraction quicker than the previous as both mechs strived to find week spots in each other's defences.

Shouts for stakes raised were distinct against the tribunes roar. Stakes raised in both directions.

The two were circling again, the tribunes cheering them to clash. Megatron was articulating, but his voice wasn't distinguishable against the crowd.  
Soundwave waited till the sun was shining from behind her and rushed forward.

Shockwave had to rewind the record several times to fully grasp what had happened next. The steel warrior rushed to meet his agile rival, but instead of blocking Soundwave's blade he let it swoop in dangerous proximity to his head as his own metal claw slashed up his rival's chest plates. Inertia of her own movement caused Soundwave to impale herself on the deadly blade. Not letting her tear free, Megatron spun them both around and rammed his bladed fist into violet flyer' jaw pounding her into the ground. The impact made arena plates crack.

It had happened so quickly, Shockwave doubted anyone understood how. A belated cheer swooped around the arena. Soundwave shuddered on the ground, blue and yellowish fluid pouring out freely.  
Megatron rose and raised his striking arm.  
The tribunes quieted down, anticipating the final blow to be delivered.  
"I won!" – Megatron thundered, stepping back. "His spark is mine. He lives" – the steel mech turned around slowly to face the tribunes in challenge.  
"Snuff him!" – arena boss' shout raised above the place. "Now!"  
"He lives. Unless you come down and get through me!" He span around "Anyone?!"

After an impressive display of might that he just demonstrated, there were no volunteers. Gladiators looked at each other, many of them had already been bested at least once by the one lying in dust at the feet of the new star, and those who hadn't been had suffered defeat from the ones who had.

One of the bosses' guards twitched forward only to be stopped by his master's outstretched arm. Logical, Shockwave mused. Arena bosses couldn't risk their mech's public defeat at a hand of a slave.

Megatron scooped up his convulsing opponent and left the arena.

***  
It's been three cycles since. Soundwave was steady but yet in stasis. Megatron was absent. No one knew what happened to him after the bosses' guards shocked him offline and dragged him away right outside the tech bay door.

Rumor had it, they snuffed him. Rumor had it, they gave him over to man the steel melting line. Rumor had it, some high-caste mech took him into his security, impressed by his performance. Rumor had it, he was sent to Kaon to be a test subject for some borderline biotech project. Rumor had it, he ran away.

So, no one really knew what had happened to him. Shockwave wasn't concerned by the fate of the daring gladiator – he'd seen such hotheads before, their logs were short. It had been most illogical to stand up against the arena boss. What made him do that? Something Soundwave told him? Something he had said to her?

During the fourth cycle, Arena boss paid Shockwave a visit, checking on the state of his fallen champion. Shockwave maintained his usual calm compliance, positioning himself in the corner in the most humble way.

"Tell me this piece of crap isn't a waste of my energon!" – the boss demanded.  
"Soundwave will recover. Soon. The damage was great but it didn't influence his fighting abilities." – even in the face of the mech Shockwave dreaded most – and logically so, this mech held keys to his life or scrap, - even in the face of this greedy cold sparked spawn, Shockwave was careful not to slip the secret of Soundwave's origin.

The boss sneered: "some fighting abilities they proved to be! You!" – he turned to Shockwave – "you have ten cycles to put him back in shape or I scrap you both." – and the boss turned to leave, his guards with him.

"I will need better tools. His optics need replacement" Shockwave called out without much hope for a positive answer, but calculating the odds of punishment were low.

The boss swooped back, his energy field lashing out with flaring anger, making the tech press his back to the wall "I've lost enough with the stunt you sluggers pulled last time! You want new optics? Scrap someone!"

With that, he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Clicks passed. Shockwave was still working. He scavenged through a pile of re-usable spare parts that occupied third part of the tech bay and found nothing remotely resembling compatible optics. Several times someone peeked through the door, but Shockwave barked "Busy!" without even turning.

Must have been nothing serious because he was left alone. Alone. He looked at Soundwave's distorted face. If he doesn't find a replacement for her visual feed device, the next fight, even against a complete rookie, would inevitably scrap her. Then he would truly be alone. Shockwave suppressed an unpleasant shudder that ran through his circuits at the thought. It was only logical to dread a setback his mate's demise would bring him. Completely logical.

Not to mention the arena boss promised to scrap him if she wasn't in fighting condition in due time. No spare clicks to waste then. Shockwave shut down all his the external sensors, using the processing capacity to scan through his catalogue of possible blindness solutions. Being sparked a slave, he never had a chance to load a decent library into his databanks. But the boss was wise enough to show him the documentation on every arriving fighter. And he catalogued every detail. Of course, the technic needed that to perform the dirty work.

The catalogue scan was coming to an end, as a memory of Soundwave being brought in for stamping surfaced on its own accord. Illogical. But Shockwave had come to understand that logics of higher grade was often behind such irregular occurrences. So he indulged himself, submerging into earlier vorns for a few clicks.

_A flyer. A lucky cycle for the pit. Shockwave studied the newcomer, noting details about his unusual design. Probably has speed and precision, he mused. The newb showed no signs of disobedience or fear when the escorting guard urged him onto the table. Rare fighters were perceptive enough to get scared before it was too late. This one surely wasn't._

_The guard secured slave's hands into bracers and went to stand outside as was dictated by the protocol. Shockwave prepared his manipulators and the stamp, and turned to his patient, saying a well-rehearsed lie of "small necessary procedure to ensure your safety…"_

_He didn't finish as his voice trailed off. The mech on the table slid up his visor and opened his chest chamber plates, his… her spark pulsating, turning, changing and casting soft lilac reflexes on her ivory face and wide, bright optics of the same color. Shockwave had to reload his visual to truly be sure he was indeed seeing it._

_The patterns within the rotating lilac flame were definitely feminine. He came up to the table, manipulator and the stamp in hand, their presence there forgotten._

_What would a femme do at the arena? _

_Enthralled by the intricate light swirls Shockwave involuntarily leaned closer in. He'd never seen a femme spark before, but he recognized it instantly. This knowledge was hardwired into his system. Free from the confining chamber, her energy field engulfed him, bearing with it the most illogical mix of calm, acceptance, anxiety and on top of it pulsating fear._

_Thin, but immensely strong fingers closed on his wrist. How did she free her hands? It took a considerable effort to shift his focus from her spark to her optics, and as he had managed that he had found himself equally captured by her intense stare._

_"No one must know" – she said in half-whisper with strained urgency._

_Shockwave put his cooling fans in overdrive, driving warmed air from his mainframe – he didn't even realize they had stopped until an overheat warning pinged him._

_That simple distraction was welcome as it allowed him to regain himself._

_"This is no place for you" – he said in a low tone, unsure if he should apply the stamp or call the guard. The grip on his wrist tightened, slender fingers denting the metal._

_"Please. I need this chance for freedom"_

_Shockwave couldn't hold a bitter laughter. "Freedom? It's a myth. Single gladiators had managed that, and no one knows if they were even real."_

_"It's better than nothing. What's in it for you if you give me out?" – the violet flyer whispered._

_Haggling. That was logical. "What's in it for me if I don't?" – he returned also in whisper._

_Her hand released his and stretched forward. Her fingers traced his chest plates up to the spark chamber. A small jolt of electricity passed from her hand to his frame, invoking neurons' circuits that he was never aware of._

_Slightly withdrawn, his conscious self watched his body lean into the touch, following imperative middleware protocols. Long dark fingers traced his chest covers, gently pushing them aside. He found himself opening up responding to this silent urge._

_Uncovered, his spark reflected off her polished plates, it's blue-ish light mixing with her lilac one. Immediately her field grew stronger, palpable as their energetic signatures interlaced. Shockwave offlined his optics – they were distracting him from the sensations filling his neuron' net through this direct contact. Unconditional acceptance, cool calming welcome – everything he sensed before multiplied tenfold, interlaced with a subtle promise of belonging, which was illogically appealing at the moment. _

_Strong hand closed on the sharp edge of his opened chest plate and pulled him forward. Shockwave onlined the visual, alert. Wide lilacs optics were just inches away from his camera. His gaze shifted lower to see their sparks linked together, kept immobile by the contrast of magnetic attraction and repulsion, pulsating. His chassis was trembling with potential energy generated by halting spark's rotation and it felt like energon overheat except it was cool and it made him want to laugh and to fly and to do other as illogical things…_

_He regained clarity abruptly. A quick check proved him be intact, sitting on the floor. His gaze flicked to the femme. She was sitting on the table, one long arm still held captive, the other one braced upon a leg she pulled up. The visor was back on, the breast chambers closed._

_"What's the commotion, tech?" – the guard said, looking into the room "Trouble?"_

_Shockwave shook his head and rose before he trusted himself to speak. "A short circuit. I will be done shortly"_

_The guard nodded grimly and closed the door._

_The femme flyer watched him get up, head tilted slightly to the side. _

_"Well?" – she whispered, - "deal?"_

_Shockwave ran a quick test on his systems. He seemed ok._

_"What makes you think you're good enough to fight your way up?" – he asked "perhaps turning you in is best for you"_

_A dry chuckle. "You want me offline you in a much less pleasant way? Appreciate the concern, though."_

_Shockwave thought it over, his hands carefully checking the stamp to ensure it wasn't broken by his landing on the floor. _

_"I have a counter-offer. You'll have your first fight soon. Custom says you have a right to challenge anyone in the pit. Choose me. If you can stand against me, I'll team up with you. If you lose, I'll pass your secret to the boss for your own safety."_

_The violet flyer lay back down onto the table and opened up her chest plates again. "Deal."_

_The technic powered up his manipulator and hovered over her, trying not to get distracted by the whirling beauty under his hands._

_"Soundwave" – she suddenly said. "The name is"_

_"I have none" – he stated calmly knowing that it marks his origin more than the tickling death in his chest did. Technically, they were both nameless now. But lucky (or unlucky) mechs that had tasted freedom before falling to the lowest of the low, clung to the remnants of the life they had before, name being the last thing they would relinquish. "How did you know I was going to agree?" he said partly to fill the emptiness that settled after his admission._

_ "Eighth sense" He couldn't see her face but the smile was obvious._

Eighth sense… enlightened, he rummaged the scrap once again. There it was a transceiver he made from scrap and used to illegally listen to overhead and even communicate with the closest pit's tech. They've met on a Clarion cycle vorns ago, a single day in stellar cycle when different pits competed for a sound prize. Driven by subdued despair they quickly met an agreement to pass precious scrap around should the need occur. Such need occurred rarely but sometimes it was enough to know that there was somewhere out there. The friendly tech, whose name Shockwave carefully erased from his databanks had stopped responding several vorns before Soundwave rushed into his reality, so there wasn't much transmitting since then.

However Shockwave kept the device, sure that it would prove valuable during vorns to come. Now was the time to put it to good use.

Shockwave examined the cracked visor. That should most definitely do.


	4. Chapter 4

_ughm... I have slightly rewritten the end of chapter 3, cause I got aware that Shockwave being sparked slave, would not have a name back then. More memories... like happy sparks in darkness. Italic means memories within memories._

_Please comment :)_

* * *

Shockwave needed to power down. He really needed that. Already he felt his reaction slowing, his focus slipping away, his emotional level rising. He'd been working on an alternate navigation system for Soundwave for two cycles without a pause and it took him one more to perform the surgery. Now his partner's vitals were stable but it still remained to be seen if his solution worked.

Partway through the operation, Megatron showed up. The gladiator was exhausted and had several small energon leaks, apparent by the stains on his armor. Most logical assumption was, he had suffered the consequences for his disobedience and was now sent in for repair. At the sight of Shockwave performing fine operation on the flyer's head and neck area, the gladiator chose not to make his request and stayed in the corner watching for as long as it took the tech to finish. His presence inspired irrational fury spin through Shockwave's systems, but he assigned it zero priority and ignored the untimely feeling together with the one that caused it.

As Soundwave's reconstructed face mask – now a multifunctional visor, - clicked into place and got connected to the complex machinery underneath, Shockwave studied his patient's vitals intently before straightening up and turning to Megatron. There was nothing he could to for Soundwave now. The rest was up to her self-repair Nanos.

For a few clicks the mechs regarded each other. "I require repair" – finally Megatron was the one to break the silence. Emotions swirled in Shockwave's circuits and he let them swirl. The steely mech was the one to break his mate, yet the steely mech was also the one to save her spark. Soundwave issued the challenge herself. And yet he seemed to blame the gladiator for not losing the fight. Most illogical.

"Help me put.. him… on the recharge berth" he said, once again deprioritizing emotions. Carefully they moved the immobile violet chassis onto Shockwave's recharge area and the later activated the field that would hopefully provide a boost to the healing speed.

As the tech then worked on patching up Megatron's energon circulation, the gladiator suddenly spoke up: "I'm not the one you should hate for this".

Shockwave paused and gave him a glance "Hate is illogical"

For a while there was only silence. Shockwave was patching up a leak right under the right side of Megatron's chest plates, the later twisting his head so he could see the tech's hands. "You are not med class" – he stated "yet your skill is amazing. You are wasted here"

Shockwave chose to ignore it, he was never in for social chatting.

"What did you do before?"

This one also fell on deaf audial.

"Maybe you should let your mate go to scrap" - the tone slightly changed and Shockwave looked up to find Megatron looking at Soundwave. The statement was implying and his initial reflex was to correct the mech, but he recognized the provocation and turned back to his work hoping that ignoring Megatron would make him finally stop talking.

Hoping was illogical.

"With fights for scrap there are no chances to reach buyout. Letting him go with the hope might be mercy" – said the gladiator, his optics still fixed on the recharge area.

This time Shockwave answered "The chances were always too low to consider or put faith in."

He finished with the side and turned to the last wound – on Megatron's leg. His patient seemed to finally quiet down, but the silence illogically unnerved the tired tech. So this time he was the one to speak: "What did you tell Soundwave on the arena?"

"The truth"

Shockwave finished and rose to meet Megatron's gaze "And the truth is…"

"Freedom cannot be bought, it can be taken by force only" – the words reverberated through Shockwave's core, resonating with something he couldn't really put a name to. He found himself transfixed, but the next words broke the spell "And I'm not the one who holds the key to his freedom. Or yours. Or mine"

Shockwave really needed to power down. His thoughts were rolling in unpleasant circles between memories and assumptions. Megatron had gone long ago, escorted away by a guard. Shockwave's berth was occupied by Soundwave, and though they fit there together, the tech didn't want to harm his unconscious mate with a careless movement.

He could go off to Soundwave's berth in the commons, but that would mean leaving her side and she might online any moment. Shockwave had to be there to explain her predicament. Whether the operation was a success or failure, he had redefined her very existence. Just like she had his.

_The cheer was deafening. Shockwave felt dark anticipation flowing through his energon circuits. He had never thought they would climb this far up the tournament table. His partner eased tension in her wings, moving them slightly and said "Hate the noise"._

_"Part of trade" – he answered instantly. This small dialogue repeating at the beginning of their every fight was quickly becoming a signature._

_He felt her smiling before they both turned 100% of their attention to their opponents. Two red-and-yellow mechs, almost too bright on the optics, entered the arena. A miner and a jet, no less. The vehicon rolled smoothly in his alt form, his slow movements clearly belying his agility. The jet made a circle above and transformed above his assigned position. The public cheered even louder, impossible as it first might seem. Current pit champion duo sure had a lot of fans._

_"You take the jet, I get the grounder" – Soundwave said, studying their opponents. "How am I supposed to take the jet?" – Shockwave let his surprise on the proposed tactics show. For a flyer-and-vehicon duos, it was a custom to fight correspondingly. Switching the tactics was logical as it could achieve give them the element of surprise. But how was he supposed to take down someone able to stay out of reach forever?_

_"I'll toss him down" – the flyer said just as the arena boss waved one of his tentacles and a siren sounded._

_Both flyers immediately surged upwards. The vehicon started with screeching wheels toward Shockwave's unmoving figure._

_Shockwave waited for him to close the distance and leapt up at the very last moment, transforming on the fly and landing on top of the wrecker, his crawlers denting the roof. The mech rushed from under him and transformed, turning to swing his mallet at the crawler. Shockwave put some distance between them before transforming back and bracing to meet his heavier opponent. They were about same height, but the tech' contact scrambler was no match to the chassis-breaking mallet his opponent was swinging with a practiced ease. Even if he managed to scramble the appendage, it still would be crushing into him with the same force._

_Evade and tease was the tactics. Shockwave ducked under the swing and kicked the miner's leading knee pad, causing him to grunt. Falling back to evade the back swipe of the mallet, Shockwave swung to the left, using the bigger mech's inertia against him and aiming to scramble his shoulder. The plates held a blow._

_This time the back swing caught him. Falling left, he transformed and sprinted away._

_"BOOO" the public didn't like that much._

_A high pitched whistle that usually accompanied Sounwave's speed flight was the only clue he got. Soundwave transformed on the fly and landed in the center of the arena, her feelers clasping the struggling jet. With a mighty swing, the violet gladiator turned and tossed the jet into the ground._

_Shockwave's alt form rushed to the fallen flyer, jumping and landing on top of the mech before he could get up. Soundwave stepped in between the two fighting in dust and the advancing miner._

_Shockwave scrambled the wings, then got a kick at his midsection and released the jet. He was no flyer for the next couple of minutes and that should suffice. Confused by his now numb wings, the jet was no challenge._

_At some time, the red –and-yellow met a smart decision and stopped getting up, thus yielding._

_Shockwave turned to help his mate only to find that no help was required – the miner was a heap of spare parts leaking energon and spitting curses from under her foot on his chest plates._

_The siren sounded, drowned out by the excruciatingly loud cheering from the mob. Soundwave raised her head and arm up in a victory gesture._

_For once, she didn't seem to mind the noise._


	5. Chapter 5

_They won the tournament! They had won the tournament! Shockwave felt dizzy. For once his fighting partner dedication toward the mythical buyout didn't seem so unrealistic. They could gamble... A vorn or two.. make it five or six, still it was achievable._

_Shockwave's processor was 100% loaded with probability calculations and he nearly missed the arena boss festival speech. Only when Soundwave grabbed his wrist in silent excitement did he realize that they were going to Kaon. Apparently, as part of the show before the major showdown of the vorn, they were to be presented to the broad public._

_Shockwave didn't know what to expect, so he decided not to expect anything and was positively blinded, deafened and dizzy with all the lights and noise and the glamour of it - it was his first time in the city of Kaon, in any city, first time outside slave premises without extensive supervision. They were the champions, and these mechs and femmes gathered to greet them, cheer for them._

_All the creds flowing in as bets and admissions softened their boss moods somewhat. He was dragging them along with him from one festive to another, until finally they made it to a grand reception in the city hall._

_"No high grade for you" - he reminded both his fighters and his guards before letting them socialize with the free folk. Soundwave nodded solemnly and Shockwave said "yes, boss"_

_Shockwave felt out of place and ill at ease among all these shiny and assertive mechs and femmes. Especially the femmes. Every phase they said to him seemed ambiguous and he wasn't sure he was getting enough context. In the end he nearly hid behind his partner's back after yet another weird and illogical remark from a femme._

_Thankfully, the reception didn't last long._

_Dizzy. He was positively dizzy, his swap stakes got overflown with emotions. He deprioritized them and set an internal alarm to analyze them later._

_As they left the party, the boss turned to them. His lighter than usual moods were clearly boosted by the high-grade:_

_"Well, guys, I've decided to reward you and to stimulate you to continue your winning spree. The rest of this cycle is yours, go get some fun, and don't get plastered. Rendevouz at the western ground bridge in 6 orns - don't be late. I would hate to scrap you before the finals" - with that he handed them a datapad with a temporary pass._

_"You're just letting us roam around?" - Shockwave had to make sure he had no glitch in his audials._

_"Do I look like sparkling caretaker to you?! Stay out of trouble and be on the __rendevouz_ point on time. I have things to attend to. Oh, and.." he motioned to one of his guards who took a small token out of his subspace and held it out "alerting token. Ping me if you're in trouble. And pray to Primus that you don't have to"

_"We've got it" - Soundwave cut in, taking the said token out of the guard's servo "we'll be out of trouble and on time. Thank you, boss"_

_And she pulled the astounded tech along the street._

_"He just let us go" - Shockwave stated incredulously._

_"Don't be naïve, of course he didn't. He gave us a small slack. And we better use it, not question it. So... I'm gonna stretch my wings and maybe place a few bets of my own. Get some booze. You?"_

_Shockwave must have looked like an idiot then. "I... do you think I can get into a library or something?"_

_"No kidding? Your first time in Kaon?"_

_"My first time anywhere"_

_Soundwave kept silent for a few nanoclicks. "ookaay. I guess I have to stick to you then. If you get in trouble, my buyout perspectives are ruined. Follow me, you're in for a city tour."_

_Shockwave did as he was told, marveling how his partner managed to navigate her way through a complex maze of different level traffic and the most bizarre turns and road junctions while filling him in on the vicinities and attractions. He carefully stored every bit of info given, net even trying to analyze it all yet._

_"So, it's all there is about downtown. As you see, no library. If you really want to waste your free orns on datapads, Iacon is where you should go. The archive is open to all the citizen at any time... at least the public part of it. " She stopped abruptly "They won't let you in though"_

_"Because I'm a slave?"_

_"Not just that. You have been sparked slave. Once you are a citizen, your name is in the archive and their records never get updated beyond that unless you're scrapped. They don't disavow your access if you lose your status. But you have never been a citizen."_

_They stopped at a small energon depot on a corner. Soundwave quickly purchased a cube of med-grade and plugged into the payment interface._

_"You're slaves" - the depot tech stated looking at his security display._

_"Yes. And we're legit. And we pay." - Soundwave sounded a little annoyed. She took out a datapad the arena boss gave them and showed it. "Two tubes" - she added._

_"As long as you're creditable, you're welcome. But you have to sit outside" - the tech said, supplying the energon._

_They perched on the sidewalk and divided the energon. It was rich on flavor and saturating, nothing like the leftovers they use to have in the pit. The grades were there, sure, though not enough to overstimulate._

_"Nice.." Soundwave ex-vented. "I'm always hungry since I got to the Pits"_

_Shockwave savored his part a little longer. "I was hoping..." he said "I was hoping I could update my tech databases, I have a feeling I can do a better job at the repairs... I have saved up some creds. Do you think I could by a reference pad or something?"_

_Soundwave appeared to be staring at him from behind her mask. "You really want to spend the creds you spilled your energon for to be able to better patch up your fellow pit-walkers ?" - she asked slowly, measuring every word._

_"Is it ... naïve?"_

_The flyer shook her head slowly. "Naive doesn't even come close to describing it. Come on." - she jumped up to her peds. "I know what to do"_

_Yet again they were navigating through overcrowded streets of Kaon, bright, noisy and extreme in any way. Shockwave had no idea where they were going but at some point they turned off the main street into a real maze of narrow corridors. One didn't have to be a genius to see that this here was no glamorous part of the city. The mechs they passed were grim and spotted off nearly as many scars and dents as Shockwave did. Finally they entered a small passageway under a sturdy, though poorly kept building._

_"I do the talking. You keep silent" - Soundwave whispered to her partner, leading the way in._

_Inside was what Shockwave recognized to be a tech depot, the place filled with consoles and screens. Most of them were turned away so that the visitors would not have a chance to have a look. A few facing the door displayed some stock info, it would seem. In the middle of this abundance there was a relatively small courier-class vehicon, busy bustling over numerous keyboards._

_He looked up with a cheerful expression, but dropped it immediately as he noticed Soundwave._

_"You!"_

_"Me." - Soundwave responded with a grim satisfaction, watching the vehicon fight down the initial panic. "Block the door" - she said to Shockwave and he obliged._

_"You were reported scrapped" - he said as if in a way of justifying his obvious lack of composure. Shockwave was glad his monocular face allowed to hide his surprise easily._

_"Authorities lie. Surprise." - Soundwave was clearly enjoying it, though Shockwave noticed that her voice sounded more mechanical than usual, the tone still masking her identity. So this mech didn't know._

_"I'm here to cash that favor you owe me"_

_The smaller mech's agile fingers assaulted the keyboard again. "I can't be indebted to a slave" he said dismissively. Shockwave nearly expected his partner to go violent at that, but Soundwave surprised him._

_"Let me guess, Sideways... You faked your own demise in case I gave you out. You thought that was enough. Had they scrapped me, you would be peachy, lurking in these shadows, conducting your trade... and here I am, with just a few free orns and I have found you. What chance were there that you'd manage to dive clear if they would have been _really_ looking for you? Every ounce of Kaon would be scanned and searched. Every single tie you have questioned and examined. Where would you be now?"_

_The courier looked a little ill at ease. "Yes, I admit, it was noble of you to hold your glossa... However.."_

_"Weren't you the one who said you honor your word? I'm not going to stay slave forever, you know... Might as well repay me now."_

_Sideways cackled "I do prefer to keep my end in bargain... is good for reputation... But it's my good will, not an obligation. And you are not in the position to make demands, are you?"_

_Soundwave hovered over the mech, apparently loosing her patience "So you acknowledge your debt and are asking for a leverage to pay it?!" - her voice dropped to a threatening whisper "That can be arranged"_

_She turned abruptly, and headed for the door. The courier-class flicked his gaze from Soundwave to her unknown companion who stepped aside to let the flyer pass: "Wait... what is it you want?"_

_The flyer's fingers stopped inches from the door. "Now you're talking"_

* * *

_"A citizenship? Even if I could clear him of slavery status, that would be discovered in an orn. And he still would be stamped. Out of the question!"_

_"I'm not asking you to make him a citizen, 'Ways, all I'm asking is to create an evidence, that he had been one before. It's no big deal for someone of your abilities... unless you got rusty?"_

_Shockwave got a feeling he got himself into something that could be described as "trouble". At the same time, it was the most invigorating cycle in his existence so far and he was determined to see it through._

_The negotiation didn't take long. Somehow the violet tech suspected that Sideways was putting a show of haggling specifically for him. He couldn't really pin the details that led to this conclusion, though. Finally the talking was over and the working was on._

_It took Sideways about 20 clicks to hack into the needed systems. He ran several scans before he found a suitable scrapped sparkling record to update._

_Both gladiators were rooted behind him, staring at the screens. At least, Shockwave was staring. He was getting probably as much as he would from a reference pad just staring at the code running across the consoles._

_"Stop invading my field!" - the hacker snapped at him when the tech hovered over to take a closer look._

_"I apologize, - Shockwave said, - I find myself in need of tech intel. I am assigned tech and..." - Soundwave's hand touched his shoulder and passed him a small electric surge in a warning to shut the scrap up._

_Apparently, the courier found it below him to converse with a slave. "I don't appreciate being supervised, you know that, Soundwave. There are pads up there" he motioned toward the farther corner of the room - "Go get yourself busy, slave boy"_

_Shockwave looked at his companion and only after she gave him a slight nod he allowed himself to the pads the hacker was referring to. The pads were news issues mostly, though he found an interesting note on battle class neuron net. He got so enthralled by the pad, that he nearly missed the fateful conversation:_

_"I'm going to need a name. How does he call himself?" - the small vehicon's fingers didn't slow down their frantic typing_

_"He doesn't"_

_"But I need a name. You want me come up with.."_

_"Shockwave. His name is Shockwave" - The violet tech looked up from the pad to see Soundwave looking at him, her hand resting on Sideway's forehand, pausing his typing. "Unless" - she raised her voice - "You object?"_

_He rolled the name around in his voice box. "It is perfect" - he said. And it was._


End file.
